1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to protective athletic equipment, particularly equipment for reducing or eliminating neck injuries.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Over the years, there have been significant improvements in protective equipment of the type worn by athletes, particularly athletes engaged in contact sports. Helmets, for example, have undergone considerable improvements in preventing the risk of concussion or bruising of the various portions of the top, sides and back of an athlete's head. Face guards and face shields have been added to reduce or prevent the risk of injury to a wearer's nose and face. U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,015, for example, shows yet another type of protective feature, that of a neck roll attached to the bottom of the helmet. The neck roll, made of cushion material, provides a cushioning effect when contacting the shoulders of a wearer, preventing damage when the wearer's head is rotated, hyperextended, or hyperflexed. However, since the neck roll is attached to the helmet, it does not cooperate with shoulder pads or the like shoulder protecting arrangements' to protect the wearer from risk of injury caused by a sideways displacement of the shoulder pads which presses the shoulder pads together, reducing the size of the neck opening. Also, during a whiplash-like excursion of the neck, for example, the neck roll can slide against the shoulder pads, thereby reducing the amount of energy it can absorb. Also, the neck roll fails to provide protection for other parts of the wearer's body, such as the shoulders, chest or upper back.
Cervical collars and the like devices have been developed exclusively to prevent the risk of injury to a player's neck, particularly when the player's head is twisted, rotated, and/or pushed upwardly toward the center of a player's torso. Hyperextension, rotational hyperextension, and whiplash are some of the more common types of injuries sustained by a player's neck when the head is deflected an unusual amount. U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,193 discloses a spring frame anchored to a player's shoulders which extends upward behind the rear of a player's helmet to alleviate these types of injuries. The spring framework, however, also resists a "normal" range of motion of a player's head, that which is usually not associated with injury caused by an unusual excursion of the neck. The spring framework is therefore not well-suited to competitive sports, in that it necessarily restricts the freedom of movement, and also since it has protrusions and surface irregularities which may be grasped or may become caught or snagged during the playing of a contact sport such as football.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,189,917 provides a neck collar designed to encircle the neck of a player, so as to be positioned between the bottom of the player's helmet and the player's shoulder pad. Since the protective collar is relatively small and lightweight, and is not secured to a larger, more massive piece of equipment such as the shoulder pads, it can easily become dislodged or dislocated. Further, as with the other devices mentioned above, the neck collar of the '917 patent is relatively inefficient in dissipating potentially injurious forces, and does not, for example, transmit those forces to a player's chest and upper back portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,514,784 discloses protective football apparatus mounted to or incorporated in the shoulder pads, having a rigid collar portion or guard to protect the player's neck. The guard is described as being made from a plastic or lightweight metal to prevent whiplash injury upon extreme rearward deflection of a player's head. While generally adequate in preventing contact and bruising type injuries associated with contact to the wearer's neck, the rigid neck guard does not offer a resilient absorption of neck-distorting forces experienced by deflection of a player's head. Further, the neck guard must be secured to the shoulder harness or shoulder pads at several points, and, in general, must be formed or at least adjusted for particular anatomical and shoulder pad configurations to provide the close fit needed for adequate protection. Further, although formed of lightweight material, the neck guard, which extends to cover the player's chest, is relatively massive and may tend to restrict some ranges of motion as the player moves during an athletic event.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,685 provides a cervical collar with chest and back plates which are secured to the player's shoulder harness at several points. The majority of the collar is generally rigid and inflexible, so as to transmit unusual distortions of a player's head and neck as cantilever forces are applied to the player's chest and upper back. The rigid collar construction increases the weight of the player's equipment, while restricting the player's mobility. This is also true of the plates which encase or enclose major portions of the player's chest and back, to which the rigid collar members are riveted or otherwise securely fastened. A cushioning ring-like pad attached to the chest and back plates surrounds an opening which receives the player's neck. Proper alignment of the cushioning ring-like pad or collar surrounding the neck opening may be lost when the player's shoulder harness or shoulder pads are deflected either by an edge-wise, or upwardly-directed force, tending to dislodge or otherwise dislocate the shoulder harness. Further, to provide a close fit needed to reduce the effect of dislodging forces, the cervical collar construction must be configured for a particular player's anatomy and shoulder pad configuration.
Many of the devices described above have the potential for contacting the bottom edge portion of a wearer's helmet. Under some conditions, an upward force can be applied to the wearer's helmet, thus placing the wearer's neck in tension. In general, it is desirable to avoid placing an athlete's neck in tension, should the athlete undergo an injury, given certain sequence of body movements which might tend to cause discomfort to a certain group of individuals. Accordingly, certain advantages in player protection can be realized if, in addition to cushioning or otherwise retarding an unusual range of motion of a wearer's neck, any pushing against the bottom of the wearer's helmet is avoided.